Cutting and folding machine.



A B. & F. L. IRELAND.

CUTTING AND-FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. 1914.

1 73,495. Patented July 23, 1918.

4 SHEETS-$HEET I.

W/T/VESSES'. g Wvmvrmqs. W 7 z WW.

A B. & F. L. IRELAND.

CUTTINGAND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. 1914.

Patented July 23, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 W/T/VES'SESL 7- 5 A B. & F. L. IRELAND.

CUTTING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. l9l4- Patented July 23, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A B. & F. L. IRELAND.

CUTTING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I914 1 ,273,495. Patented July 23, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

//v VE/V 705's (3AM WMJ f A BER'ISELLIRELAND AIN'D FRANK L. IRELAND, OF NORWICH, NEWYORK.

CUTTING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1918.

Application filed May 23, 1914. Serial No. 840,606.

' eral figures.

This invention relates to machines for slitting cloth or other fabrics, folding an edge, or the edges, of each of the strips ro- 'duced by theshtting o oration and win ing the strips into rolls, t e term fabricbeing intended to include within the scope of its designation cloth, paper, leather, and other materials which come in webs or sheets suitable to be 0 erated upon by a machine of the type herem disclosed.

More particularly the invention relates to a machine for,'pre aring a web or sheet of cloth or other fabric for use in various manufacturing operations, the machine herein illustratedbeing especially adapted for slitting a web or sheet of cloth into strips and folding over the edges of these strips to prepare them for use as bindings, facings, button stays etc., in the manufacture of garments. lit will be understood, however, that many features of the invention, both separately and in different combinations, are susceptible of wide application.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for controlling the presentation of the web or sheet of fabric to the slitting and folding mechanism whereby the stri s produced by the slittin operation may e maintained more uni orm in character than heretofore and whereby also the plperations may be performed at higher s ee Another object of the invention is to rovide a machine of the class described w ich ma conveniently be adjusted to produce strips of different widths'and to operate upon webs or sheets of different characteristics and different widths, an important feature of the invention being the provision, in a machine embodying folding mechanism and slitting mechanism, of means associated with one of said mechanisms whereby the adjustment of said mechan sm to produce strips of different widths facilitates the adjustment of the other mechanism.

A further object of the invention is the provison of means for takin care of the waste ed es that are cut off from the web or sheet 111 the slittin operation and windmg these edges into balls or rolls whereby these waste strips are kept out of the way of the other operating parts of the machine and out of the. way of the operator.

Important features of the invention are the rovision of convenient means for con trol mg the operation of the machine whereby the operator may quickly stop or start the machine without moving out of the position in which he can watch carefully the various operations of the machine, and the provision of means for removing the wrinkles and creases from the web or sheet to wvhich means the web or sheet may be web .or sheet is being introduced into the machine.

Other objects and important features of the invention will appear from the following description and claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, from the front and left hand side, of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view from the rear and right hand side;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the clutch blocks and the spider which carries said blocks being removed and the spokes of the driving pulley being broken away in order to show more clearly the parts behind the parts removed;

Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of a portion of the removable folder carrying board;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the folders;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation part1 in section of the starting and stopping mec ianism and of the gears immediately associated with said mechanism; and a I Fig. 7 is a detail plan partly in section of the means for effecting a relative adjustment of the cutter shafts;

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail showing the infeeding and selvage clamping mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a detail view illustrating the rod torsioning means through which the ressure of the rolls on the winding shaft 13 equalized,

The machine shown in the drawings com-- prises a frame, indicated generally at 2, in which are bearings for the various shafts, some of which shafts are driven through clutch and gear connections to a driving pul ley 4 and others of which are driven by the movement of the' sheet or Web of fabric through the machine. The slitting mechanism comprises upper and lower cutter carrying shafts 6 and 8, the upper shaft carrymg a gear 10 driven from a gear 12 of corresponding size on the lower shaft and said lower gear being driven from a pinion 14 upon a sleeve 16 uponthe stationary shaft 18, the sleeve 16 being arranged to be clutched to the pulley 4 by means of clutch blocks 20 carried upon a spider 22. Upon the cutter shafts are mounted disk cutters 24 adjustable along the shafts to give different spacings between the :disks and thereby -difierent widths of strips, each cutter being provided witha' collar 25 having a set screw 27, by which it is clamped to the shaft.

From the cutters the strips pass directly to folders 26 mounted upon a removable folder carrying board 28, the forward part of said board resting upon the stationary shaft 18 and the folders resting upon an eccentrically mounted shaft 30. Lugs 31 upon the sides of the machine frame enter notches in the ends of said board and locate 'said board and the cutters in proper position between the shafts 18 and 30. At its front edge the board 28 is provided with gage notches '32 so located with respect to the locations and sizes of the folders that said gage notches may be used in locating the disk cutters upon the lower shaft 8 to cut strips of widths suitable to be operated upon by the coiiperating folders. The notches 32 are so located that the edges of the lowerdiskcutters extend into them. The lower cutters being adjusted upon their shaft, the upper cutters may be adjusted into contact with the lower cutters and thus both sets of cutters will be brought into proper positions for cutting strips suitable to be operated upon by the folders. Each of the folders is preferably constructed to fold over the two edges of the strips, although it is obvious that they may be constructed and arranged to fold over one edge only if such operation is ,desired orv required. One of the foldersv is shown in perspective detail in Fig. 5 and as shown in sald figure comprises a throat member 34 formed of sheet metal having its sides. bent up gradually from a point 36 vuntilthey overhang and extend substantially'horizontally above the bottom of the throat at the front end as shown at 38. A tongue 40 of a width slightly less than the distance between the two sides of the. throat is removably located in said throat and holds the strip down upon the bottom face of said .and as a handle by which the tongue may be easily removed from the throat and inserted in the throat when introducing the strip into the folding mechanism.

From the folding mechanism the strips pass over the shaft 30 and substantially around a corrugated roll 46 passing down over the front face of said roll and up over the rear and top faces and being received between the two parts of a split shaft 48 of the winding mechanism. One member of said split shaft 48 has its bearing in a removable bracket piece 50 carried by the left hand member 52 of a rocking frame pivoted at 54 upon the machine frame at one side of the machine and upon the gear shaft 56 at the other side of the machine. The bracket piece 50-has a base 58 with a pointed lower end received in a notch 60 of the member 52 and having a cam face'with which engages a locking lug 62 upon a lever 64 fulcrumed at 65 in a slot in the member 52. The other member of the split shaft 48-has its bearings in the other member 66 of the 100 rocking'frame and carries a gear 68 driven by a train of gears comprislng two idlers 7 O, 72, the idler gear 72 meshing with a gear Y 74 upon the-sleeve 16.

The corrugated roll 46 is positively ro- 105' tated by connections to the sleeve 16, to which the pulley 4 may be clutched as hereinabove set forth, said connections comprising a gear 76 connected by a train of gearing to a pinion 78 upon one end of a shaft 110 80 extending across the machine frame. The other end of said shaft 80 carries a gear 82 meshing with the pinion 14 upon the sleeve 16. I a

To insure the ironing out of the folds 5 upon the strips'before the strips are wound into rolls a presser roll 86 mounted in movable bearings 88 serves to press the folded strips up against the rear face of the corru gated roll 46, the movement of the roll 86 20 toward the corrugated rollbeing effected by the action of springs 90 upon the rear face of the bearings 88, the amount of spring tray or container 94 removably supported in guides 96 carried by the standards of the machine frame and from this container the cloth is led up over a zig-zag series of bars 98, 100, 102, 104, 106, and 108, passing over the top of the bar 108 and .down over the which longitudinal tension is under surface of a tension roll 110 which is turned by the fabric in its movement through the machine. For convenience in description the term cloth will be used hereinafter to designate the web or sheet of fabric to be operated upon.

The surface of the tension roll 110 is shown as-covered with sandpaper to provide friction to keep the cloth from slipping as it passes'over said roll, the resistance of the roll 110 to turning determining the longitudinal tension exerted upon the cloth. The means for retarding the turning of the tension roll 110 comprises a friction pulley 112 upon the shaft 114 which carries the roll 110 and a brake strap 116'surrounding said pulley and held tightly against the peripheral surface'of said pulley by connection to a weight carrying lever 118 fulcrumed upon -a pivot stud 120, the brake strap 116 being connected to one arm 122 of said lever and-the other arm of said lever being provided with flanges 124 along which a counter weight 126 is adjustable to vary the frictional action of the brake strap upon the friction pulley. I

To tension the cloth and at the same time to remove the wrinkles and folds, the bars 100, 104 and 108 are preferably formed with enlargements in their middle portions, or of gradually increasing diameter from either end toward the middle, and after the cloth .passes over the tension roll 110 by put upon the cloth it passes over a lateral tensioning bar 128-arched slightly between its ends and so fastened in the arms 130 of a bracket support that its convex surface is presented to the cloth whereby it tends to stretch the cloth laterally. The brackets 130 which support the tension bar 128 are connected .by a rod or shaft 132 which serves as a support for adjustable retaining and guiding 'rollers 134 which cooperate with a smooth steel roll 136 over which the cloth passes on its way to the cutting mechanism, said rollers tending to maintain the lateral tension put upon-the cloth as it passes over the" ten sion bar 128 and thus to guide the cloth and particularly to keep the edges of the cloth 9 running straight so that the selva ewill be picked up and presented proper y to the cutting mechanism if'by chance the clothruns narrow in places and the selvage is cut through. The roll 136 is driven at a higher surface speed than the rate of travel of the cloth by means of a belt 137 passing over a pulley on the shaft 80 and beneath an idler upon may conveniently be supported in a on the lower cutter shaft-8, whereby friction is obtained for starting the end of the cloth into the cutting mechanism, the retaming and guiding rollers 134 being spring pressed down upon the cloth as shown at 135 in 3. Carriers 138 for the rollers 134 are a ustablealongthe rod 132 and may be secured in different positions of adjustment by set screws 140.

The bracket support for the tension shaft 128 is pivotally connectedto the frame. 2 at 142 whereby it may be moved out of the way of the cutting mechanism when it is desired to adjust the cutter disks along the cutter shafts to roduce strips of different widths. The said bracket support is locked in ltsoperative relation to the cutting mechanism by a do 144 which hooks over a lug upon the insi e 'of the removable standard 146 in which one end of each of the cutter shafts has its bearing.

operative relation to the corrugated roll 46 by means of dogs 150 pivotally mounted upon said bracket support 148 and arranged to engage a tooth or lug 152 upon the machine frame. When the dogs 150 are moved .out of operative engagement with the teeth 152 the bracket support 148 may be dropped down against the rear side of the'frame 2, thus moving the presser roll 86 out of o erative relation to the corrugated roll 46 w iereupon the corrugated roll 46 may be lifted out 0 its open bearings 154 and may be placed with its journals 156'resting in sockets 158 of brackets 160 upon the rear faces of the standards of the machine frame.

The, provision of the pivoted bracket support 148 and the removable corrugated roll 46 facilitates the introduction of-the material to be slitted into the machine since the strips may be led directly from the folding mechanism to the split shaft of the winding mechanism and after all of the strip ends have been clamped between the two parts of the split shaft the corrugated roll 46 may be dropped into its bearin s 154 carrying the intermediate portionso the strips with it whereby it is unnecessary to lead the I of said bars being provi ed with flat faced shouldered portions received in said sockets whereby the bars are kept from turning. The end pieces 164 are supported upon brackets 166 bolted to the front faces of the standards of the machine frame. said end pieces being provided with bored, lugs 167 which rest upon shouldered studs 168 upon the ends of said brackets. Edge gaging and uiding members 169 are ad ustaoly secured upon the bars 98 and 102.

In introducing the cloth to the mechanism for removing wrinkles and folds the cloth is first taken from the container 94 up over the rear faces of the'three bars 98, 102, and 106. The bar 100 is then removed from its sockets 162 and placed behind the portion of the cloth extending between the bars 98 and 102 and is then drawn forward and placed again in its sockets. The bar 104 is then placed behind the port-ion of the cloth extending between the bars 102 and 106 and is drawn forward and placed in its sockets, andlthen the bar 108 is removed from its sockets and placed beneath or behind the portion of the cloth above the bar 106 and is then returned to its sockets. From the bar 108 the cloth is then led beneath the tension roll 110 up over the ten sion bar 128 between the retaining and guiding rolls 134 and the driven roll 136 and through the cutting mechanism. The' strips produced by the cutting mechanism are then introduced into the folders and are carried from the folders to the winding mechanism in the manner hereinabove described.

It will be noted that in the winding operation the rolls 169 produced rest upon the upper face of the corrugated roll 46. As the rolls increase in size the material would be caused to travel faster through the ma chine owing to the more rapid winding action of the winding mechanism if provision were not made for permittingslipping of the parts through which the winding mechanism is driven. Owing to the fact that the corrugated roll 46 is driven at a definite speed it is not practicable for the material to be drawn over this roll at a speed much greater than the speed of rotation of said roll; To provide for slipping of the parts through which the winding mechanism is driven the gear 68 is frictionally connected to the split shaft 48, or to its half of the split shaft 48, being confined between frictional plates 170 pressed against the. side faces of said gear by disks 172 under the actionof a sprin 174 confined upon an extension 176 of t e split shaft. 7

To insure uniformity of the action of'the winding means it is practically essential that the various rolls along the split shaft 7 bear upon the corrugated roll with substantially equal pressure. To secure this result means is preferably provided foref- 1 fecting an ad u'stment whereby the pressure upon the roll 46-a't one end orthe other of the split shaft maybe 'inoreased or decreased. The illustrated means comprlses a torsion 5 bar 178 rigidly held in the member 66- of 6 the rocking frame and having rigidly at tached to its other end a member provided with two arms 180 and 182 through which are threaded screws 184, 186 bearing against the opposite sides of an extension 188 upon the member 52 of the rocking frame. By adjusting the screws 184 and 186 the tor sion exerted upon the bar 178 may be varied and thus the pressure of the rolls at one end or the other of the winding shaft upon the take care of them by means of the winding mechanism provided for the uniform strips produced by the cuttingmechanism but if they are not taken care of in some way they are liable to become entangled in some part of the machine and to interfere either with the operation of the machine or with the progress of the material through the ma.

chine. Accordingly provision is made in this machine for windin these waste strips, usually the selvage e ges, into balls or rolls so that they are kept out of the mechanism for operating. upon the other strips and also so that they do not have to receive the constant attention of the operator.

The illustrated very simple mechanism for taking care ofthese waste ends has beenfound especially useful for this purpose. Pivotally supported upon a horizontal rod .190 extending between the side members of the machine frame 2 is a spindle carrying frame 192, in bearings in which is mounted a shaft 194 having upon its end a somewhat frusto-conical winding spindle 196 having a slot 198 in which the end of the. waste strip 199 to be wound may be inserted. Upon the shaft 194 is fastened a pulley 200 over which passes a belt 202 connecting said pulley to a driving pulley 203 upon the shaft 80,- said belt acting both to drive said shaft 194 and also to support said frame 192 so that it maintains said shaft 194- in substantially a horizontal position.

It will be noted that this mechanism is so arranged that if the winding action of the spindle 196 is faster than the movement of the material through the machine it will cause the spindle 196 to lift itself until the pulley 200 rises out of operative relation .to

the belt 202, when the winding'action will cease. This arrangement also facilitates the convenient introduction of the selvage or waste strip end into the slot 198 since the operator by simply lifting the end of the spindle-196 moves it out of operative relation to the belt 202.

In order that the operator may conveniently start andstop the machine Without moving out of a position in which he can keep his eyes constantly upon the work passing through the machine, means is provided for controlling the clutch by which the pulley 4 is clutched to the sleeve 16, which means extends constantly into convenient reach of the operator no matter at which side of the machine he is located. The illustrated means comprises a handle bar 204 extending across the machine above the cutting and folding mechanism from one side of the machine to the other, said handle bar being arranged for horizontal longitudinal movement to effect the clutching and unclutching operations, one end of said bar being supported by a parallel link 206 pivoted at its lower end in a slot at the end of the shaft 18 and the other end of said bar being carried by a second parallel link 208 which is forked at its lower end and is connected with means now to be described for effecting the movement of the pulley 4 into and out of engagement with the clutch The forked lower end of the lin 208 embraces the end of the shaft 18 anl is pivoted upon pins 210 that project through the fork members of said link to furnish stops which cooperate with stop members 212 upon short links 214 pivotal y connect- -blocks 20 upon the spider 22.

ed to the fork members of the hnk 208 at points 216 eccentric to the pivots 210. The other ends of the links 214 are connected to a sliding member 218 which has lugs 220 received in a groove 222 upon the hub of the pulley 4. When the link or lever 208 is rocked upon its pivots 210 in one direc-- tion it moves the pulley 4 into clutching relation to the clutch blocks 20 upon the spider 22, see Fig. 6, this movement eing limited,

' if desired, by one of the stop members 212 and when said link or lever 208 is rocked in the other direction about its pivots it moves the pulley out of clutching relation to the clutch blocks, this movement being limited by the other of the stop members 212. Thus by a very short and positively limited movement of the horizontal handle bar 204 the machine may be thrown into operation or out of operation.

To insure the engagement of the cutter disks on one shaft with the cooperating cutter disks on the other shaft provision is preferably made for relative longitudinal adjustment of said shafts. To this end the upper shaft 6 is preferably arranged for longitudinal movement in its bearings, its movement in one direction being limited by the engagement of the cutters upon said shaft wit the cutters'upon the lower shaft. 8 and its movement in the other direction beingadjustably limited by a stop 224 having a fiber-covered end bearing against the end of said shaft and threaded through a split bracket 226 secured by bolts 228 to the front of the machine frame, see Fig. 7 of the drawings. A clamp screw 320 extending through the split portion of said bracket serves to clamp said stop 224 in its different. positions of adjustment and said stop 224 may be turned to screw it in one direction or the other through the bracket 226 by means of handles 232.

The operation of the various mechanisms which go to make up the machine has been described to some extent in connection with the detailed description of these mechanisms but for convenience in understanding the invention as a whole the operation of the machine as a whole will now be briefly set forth.

A bolt or roll of cloth or other fabric to be operated upon being laced in the container 94, the end of-the c 0th is passed up over the rear faces of the three bars 98, 102, and 106 of the zig-zag smoothin device, the edge aging and guiding mem ers 169 having been adjusted along the bars 98, 102 to guide cloth of the width to be operated u on to the elements of the cutting and f lding mechanism which are to operate upon sai cloth. The bar 100 is removed from its sockets as hereinabove set forth and laced behind the portion of cloth locate between the bars 98, 102 and then drawn forward and returned to its sockets. A similar operation is performed with the bar 104 with respect to'the bars 102 and 106 and the bar 108 is placed behind or beneath the cloth extending beyond the bar 106. The cloth is then carried under the tension roll 110, u over the tension bar 128 and its end is introduced between the driven roll 136 and the retaining and guiding rolls 134. The operator then moves the horizontal handle bar 204 toward the right in Fig. 2 and starts the machine, thus driving the roll 136 and moving the end of the cloth toward the disk cutters 24. When the strips thus roduced are of sufficient length to extend t rough the folders the o erator removes the ton ue from each of t e folders, by taking ho d of the upstanding end 44 of said tongue and movin the tongue toward the front of the machine, and threads the strip through the passed-over the eccentrically mounted shaft 30 the eccentric mounting of said shaft provi ing for the adjustment of said shaft toward or away from the corrugated roll 46. Before the stri s are carried farther or preferably before t ey are brought to. this point the dogs 150 have been moved out of operatwo parts of the split-shaft the corru tive relation to the lugs or teeth 152 and the bracket support 148 has been dropped to move the roll 86 away from the corru ated roll .46 and the corrugated roll itsel has been removed from its bearings 154 and placed in the sockets 158 and the half of the split shaft 48 carried by the removable bracket piece machine. The ends of the strips are now led over the other half of the split shaft and then the half that has been removed is brought into cooperativerelation to the half that is kept in the machine, the bracket piece 50 being locked in the member 52 of the rocking frame by the engagement of the locking lug 62 upon the lever 64 with the cam face of the base 58 of said bracket piece, the member'52, see Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The strip ends are thus clamped between the two halves of the split shaft, this shaft being constructed substantially like the corresponding part of the machine shown In the co-pending application of A Bertsell Ireland, Frank L. Ireland and Herbert A. Ireland, Serial No. 585,622, filed October .6,

1910, which hasmatured into Letters Patent No. 1,164,650'granted December 21, 1915, for improvements in cutting machines. .The strip ends having been clamped between Eh;

a e roll is returned to its bear ngs, being p aced upon the strips and carrying the strips down with it so that they pass down over the front face, over the bottom face and over the rear face of said roll. The bracket support 148 is then lifted into position to bring the presser roll 86 into cooperative relation to the corrugated roll 46, the dogs 150 looking said bracket support in thlS'POSltlQIl. The machine is now ready to be started.

WVhen the rolls upon the split shaft have reached the desired size the machine is stopped, the locking lever 64 is moved to unlock the bracket iece .50, the removable half of the split sha t is taken from the machine, carryin .the rolls with To discharge the ro ls from this portion. of the split shaft it is only necessary to turn said part of the split shaft until its pointed end is down when the rolls will slide OE and stack themselves in a vertical pile.

It should be added that when the cloth has been threaded through the machine the strips at the edges which are usually of irregular widths and include'the selvage which is ordinarily not suitable for use are carried directly from the folder over the top of the split shaft and down to the selvage winding spindle 196, the ends of said selva e strips being inserted in the slots 198 of sald spindles.

It will be noted that in the illustrated construction the folder at the end of the series of folders is adapted to operate to pro- 50 has been removed from the the lever64' being fulcrumed at 65 on into strips, means for windin duce a folded strip of a width somewhat less than that of the other folders. This illustrates the possibility of so arranging the series of folders'that cloth of a certain width may be cut up' without Waste even when it cannot be dividedinto an equal number of strips of the preferred width. An advantage in making the folders with throats which are open in thecenter, that is, which are formed by overhanging members which are not curved again toward the sides is that these folders will always produce a folded strip of a definite width even though the strip as it comes to the folders varies somewhat in width. Thus the folders are soc onstructed that the folded over portion may vary without aflecting the width of the strip rovide for the convenient removal of the I olding mechanism, removable means is provided for retaining the tongues in the throats, The illustrated means, shown in Fig. 4, comprises a strip 234 which may be located in front of the upstanding ends 44 of the tongues 40 of the series of folders upon the upper face of the board 28 and fas tened by meansof pins, screws, or dowels 236.

Having thus described our invention in a preferred embodiment what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the.

United States is:

j 1. In a machine of the class described, means for slitting a web or sheetof fabric into strips, means for folding over the edges of the strips, said last mentioned means being bodily removable from the machine to.

permit the substitution of means for producing folded strips of difierent widths and said slitting means being adjustable to=produce strips of different widths, and means associated with the folding means for determiningthe location of the elements of the slitting means to produce strips of widths suitable to be operated upon by said folding means.

2. In a machine of the class described,-

means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding saidstrips into rolls and other means for winding into balls the waste edges cut from said web or sheet.

3. In a machine. of the class described, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric" said strips into rolls, other means for winding into balls thewaste edges cut from said web or sheet,

driving means, and means for connecting said driving means to the winding means, comprising elements relatively movable by the winding pull into inoperative relation when the winding proceeds faster than the material is delivered to said winding means.

4. In a machine of the class described, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding said strips into rolls, other means for winding the waste edges cut from said web or sheet, and driving means for said last mentioned winding means, said driving means and said windingmeans being yieldingly held in operative relation against the winding pull.

5. In a machine of the class described, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric intov strips, means for winding said strips into rolls, other means for winding the waste edges cut from said web or sheet, and driving means for said last mentioned winding means in operative relation to which said winding means is held by gravity against the pull of the winding operation.

6. In a machine of the class described, in combination with means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, selvage winding means comprising a spindle, a shaft upon which said spindle is pivotally supported, a pulley by which said spindle is driven and a belt connecting said pulley to said spindle and cooperatin with said pivotal support to support sai spindle in substantially a horizontal position.

7. In a machine of the class described, means for slitting a-wcb or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding the waste strip at the edge of said web or sheet, said means comprising a spindle arranged to turn about a horizontal pivot, a pulley from which said 'spindle is driven and a belt con necting said pulley to said spindle and supporting said spindle in such manner that said spindle may raise itself by its winding action out of driving relation to said belt when the winding proceeds faster than the slitting.

8. A machine of the class described comprising, in combination, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding the strips into rolls, means for smoothing the fabric as it passes to the slitting means, means for tensioning the fabric laterally, and means for tensioning it longitudinally, said tensioning means being located between said smoothing means and said slitting means, and means adjacent to the slitting means and arranged to clamp the lateral edges only of the web or sheet for maintaining the lateral tension at the slitting means.

9. A machine of the class described, comprising, in combination, slitting means, winding means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means and means u on the side of said slitting means remote from said winding means for introducing the fabric into said slitting means for the initial slitting operation, said means being arranged to engage both faces of the cloth near its edges only.

10. A machine of the class described comprising, in combination, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding the strips into rolls, means for effecting and controlling the movement of the fabric through the machine comprising means for tensioning the web or sheet longitudinally before it passes to the slitting means, and iii-feeding means between said tensioning means and said slitting means having a surface speed greater than the speed of travel of the web or sheet.

11. A machine of the class described comprising, in combination, means for slitting a web or sheet of fabric into strips, means for winding the strips into rolls, means for effecting and controlling the movement of the fabric through the machine comprising means for tensioning the web or sheet longitudinally before it passes to the slitting means, and in-feeding means adjacent to said slitting means and comprising a smooth-surfaced roll having a surface speed greater than the speed of travel of the web or sheet.

A machine of the class described comprlslng, in combination, slitting means, means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at a uniform speed, means for tensioning said fabric longitudinally and means for introducing the fabric into said slitting means for the initial slitting operation, said means comprising a roller having a surface speed greater than the normal speed of travel of the fabric through the slitting means.

13. In a machine of the class described, slitting means, means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at a uniform speed, means for tensioning said fabric longitudinally, means for tensioning it laterally, and a smooth-surfaced roll between said tensioning means and said slitting means engaging said fabric and driven at a surface speed greater than the speed of travel of the fabric through the slitting means.

14.. In a machine of the class described. in combination, slitting means. means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at a uniform speed of travel, means for tensioning said fabric longitudinally, means for tensioning it laterally, and means adjacent to the slitting means for controlling the delivery of the fabric to the slitting means, comprising a smooth-s11rfaeed roll engaging one side of the fabric throughout its width, and co operating rolls engaging the edges only of the other side of the fabric.

15. A machine of the class described comprising, in combination, slitting means,

means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at a uniform speed of travel, means for tensioning said fabric longitudinally, means for tensioning said fabric laterally, means located adjacent to the slitting means for controlling the introduction of the fabric to the slitting means, said means comprising a smooth-surfaced roll engaging one side of the fabric and having a surface speed in the direction of the travel of the fabric greater than the speed of travel of the fabric, and means arranged to press the edges of the fabric, into engagement with said roll.

16. A machine of the class described comprising, in combination, slitting means, means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means, means for tensioning said fabric longitudinally before it enters the slitting means, means for also tensioning saidfabric laterally, and means for maintaining the lateral tension put upon said fabric as said fabric passes to the slitting means, comprising means for clamping said fabric near its edges only.

17. In a machine of the class described, litting means, means operating to draw the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means, means for tensioning said fabric both longitudinally and laterally before it enters the slitting means, and means located between said tensioning means and said slitting means for introducing the fabric to said slitting means in one plane, said means comprising a support for the fabric, and means engaging the fabric near its edges only for pressing said fabric against said support.

18. In a machine of the class described, slitting means, means comprising a corrugated roll for drawing the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at unifor'm speed, means for pressing the slitted fabric into engagement with said corrugated roll, and means for preparing the fabric for the action of said slitting means comprising smoothing means, longitudinal tensioning means, lateral tensioning means, and edge feeding and controlling means arranged to operate upon the fabric in the order named.

19. In a machine of the class described, in combination, slitting means, means comprising a corrugated roll for drawing the fabric to be slitted through said slitting means at a uniform speed of traVeL means for pressing the fabric into engagement with said corrugated roll, means for tensioning the fabric longitudinally, means for tensioning it laterally, and smoothing means for smoothing the fabric before it is acted upon by said tensioning means and for also smoothing said fabric after it is acted upon by said tensioning means and before it enters said slitting means.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' A BERTSELL IRELAND.

FRANK L. IRELAND. lVitnesses JOHN F. LEE, DAVID D. LEE. 

